Aaron Rodgers looks checked out in embarrassing loss for Packers

If the 2021 season is going to be the “Last Dance” for Aaron Rodgers and the Green Bay Packers, it’s off to a horrendous start.

What Aaron Rodgers said after an embarrassing 38-3 loss to the New Orleans Saints in the 2021 season opener is right. It’s just one game.

With that being said, it’s just one game coming off the heels of an offseason full of drama and turmoil between the Green Bay Packers and the league’s most valuable player.

Throughout the course of the 2021 offseason, there have been a variety of reports regarding Aaron Rodgers and the Green Bay Packers, almost none of them positive, but one of them a rumor about the Packers verbally agreeing with Rodgers to trade him after the 2020 season because they drafted Jordan Love without saying anything to Rodgers beforehand.

Rodgers has no qualms with Jordan Love, but the fact that the Packers drafted his replacement. He seemed to be able to channel that rage in 2020 and put together an MVP season, one of the best he’s ever had as a professional. Unfortunately, if the Packers really did promise Rodgers they would trade him after 2020, they didn’t make good on that promise, and that sent Rodgers into a rage.

Aaron Rodgers, despite reports that he might (and he even admitted he considered it), didn’t retire or opt-out of the 2021 season. He ultimately reported to Packers camp after all of the offseason drama, and when he took the mic at Packers training camp, he absolutely put GM Brian Gutekunst on blast.

Nobody can speak directly to Rodgers’ emotions here. He’s obviously been fed up with the way things have been going in Green Bay for a while now, but he also turned down a ton of money which indicates that this is way beyond fixing with just a new contract.

This has become personal for Aaron Rodgers, and that was evident on Sunday afternoon.

Like a high school senior who didn’t want to be in class, Rodgers looked disengaged and checked out against the New Orleans Saints. It may not have been his worst performance as a professional, but it was close.

He completed just 15-of-28 passes with no touchdowns and two interceptions. The Packers put him on the bench late in this game for Jordan Love.

After the game, Rodgers dismissed his demeanor during the game and just talked about the fact that this is a very long season, and this was only one game.

Unfortunately for both he and the Green Bay Packers, it looks after one week like that’s less of something to look forward to and more like must-see TV for all the wrong reasons.

You can feel Rodgers’ dissension through the TV. It’s not that he’s apathetic, but it’s clear that the rift between he and the Packers has trickled into his on-field performance, at least just for this one game.

We’ll see what happens with Rodgers over the long haul of the next 16 games. He was missing throws, he was off-target, he was late, and he was checked out in this game.

This is the MVP we’re talking about. Should we be worried? Probably not. Should we expect him to return to MVP form? There’s more precedence for that than anything else.

Is it possible that Aaron Rodgers is so ticked off it could affect his entire season? Absolutely it is.